Potential Sources

• Nuclear - Nonrenewable

Definition: The energy released by a nuclear reaction

• Advantages:
  • Relatively low costs for operation
  • Releases less carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere
  • The waste can be reduced through recycling and reprocessing
• Disadvantages:
  • Has unknown risks
  • A target for terrorists to damage..
  • The waste that is created can last anywhere between 200-500 thousand years
• Environmental impact: It is most likely the cleanest process of making energy. It is practically harmless to the environment because it does not release harmful gases like carbon dioxide. Plants take up very little space, and they are of no harm to land, water, or the air. The main risk in having nuclear power plants are the risks of what would happen if the toxins, created in the nuclear energy process, were to be accidentally released to the public. The toxins are dangerous to the public because they can cause server illness and death.
• Uses:
  • A treatment of cancer- radiotherapy
  • To control pests and insects that harm crops and other agriculture

Synfuels - renewable

Definition: also known as synthetic fuels. It is liquid fuel derived from coal, oil shale, natural gas, or biomass. It may also be obtained from rubber or plastic waste. In order to get the fuel from the source, it must go through a process called conversion. The most common means of conversion are carbonation, pyrolysis, hydrogenation, and thermal dissolution.

• Advantages:
  • Reduces capital costs
  • Can use some gas that normally can’t be used
  • The Synfuel Plants can be configured to produce different products
• Disadvantages:
  • Relies on depeleteable sources
  • Harms the environment
  • Very expensive
• Uses:
  • coal liquification
  • conversion of methanol to gasoline
• Environmental Impact: The process of for the synfuel production gets rid of most of the harmful components of the waste. This creates waste that is generally pollutant free and can be used without majorly hurting the environment.

Fusion - Technically Nonrenewable, but becoming Renewable!

Definition: the combining of two light atoms at high pressures to produce energy

• Advantages:
  • Does not release any type of carbon emissions
  • One kilogram of fusion fuel = 10 kilograms of fossil fuel
  • Lots of materials to use - deuterium and tritium are abundantly found
• Disadvantages:
  • Time consuming to build fusion tubes - some take ten years
  • Not developed enough to be completely efficient
  • Creates radioactive material
• Uses:
  • Produce large amounts of electricity for the grid
  • Scientific research (similar to an atom collider)
• Environmental Impact: While fusion does not use a wide variety of materials, its effects are widespread. It creates radioactive material which remains toxic for one hundred years. In contrast, however, it doesn't release any carbon emissions into the air. It is much more efficient than fossil fuel, which saves the environment as well. It won't deteriorate the earth's resources for millions of years because of the sheer abundance of deuterium and tritium.

Biomass - Renewable

Definition: organic material collected from animals and plants containing the sun's energy

• Advantages:
  • Plants can always be grown again
  • Disposes of garbage and other wastes
  • Reduces need for foreign oil, which is both non-renewable and expensive
• Disadvantages:
  • Results in clearing forests to plant energy crops
  • Can pollute air and water if done sloppily
  • Burning material releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
• Uses:
  • Produce biofuels and methane gas (replacing natural gas)
  • Produce electricity for industrial use
• Environmental impact: Of course, using up waste and plants has many different environmental effects. While planting energy crops helps to soak up carbon dioxide in the air, burning those same plants for their energy does exactly the opposite. In order to clear land for those crops, trees have to be cut down. The wood from those trees contains other toxic gasses when burned as well. Some fumes released from burned gas is harmful to both the environment and the people living in it. These all can be contained with expensive filters and scrubbers, however, not all fumes can be completely removed.

Wind - Renewable

Definition: Wind energy is the energy that comes from the movement of wind across the earth.The sun plays a big role in the way that wind is made. The sun heats the oceans, earth, and atmosphere, and this uneven heat is hat causes wind. Wind turbines are a big tool in creating wind energy. Wind turbines turn the wind’s kinetic energy into electrical energy, but they are better used near areas of water. Water areas usually have more wind, as opposed to some areas that are over land. Because of this, offshore wind turbines are becoming more common and are more profitable because the higher wind speeds create more energy.

• Advantages:
  • Wind energy doesn’t produce air pollution, but instead it prevents the release of more than 1500 tons of carbon dioxide, 6.5 tons of sulfur dioxide, 3.2 tons of nitrogen oxides, and 60 pounds of mercury in just one year.
  • Wind turbines produce more energy than they use
  • Wind farms are less expensive than fossil fuel power plants, but only after the initial start up costs
• Disadvantages:
  • Wind turbines cause noise pollution, which is so loud that it sounds like a jet taking off right by you
  • The initial start up costs of making wind farms costs more money than it does to start a fossil fuel power plant
  • In some areas, there’s not always wind and we can’t control when the wind will blow
• Uses:
  • wind mills bring water to farm animals and irrigate farms
  • to power sailboats or sailing ships
• Environmental Impact: Wind turbines can kill birds or bats that might try to fly through the turbine blades. Wind farms can be large in some areas but the bases of the turbines are relatively small, so they don’t take up too much land.

Cogeneration - Renewable

Definition- is the simultaneous production of electricity and heat using a single fuel, like natural gas. It is also called CHP (combined heat and power)

• Advantages:
  • Co-generation technologies have more efficient conversions as opposed to traditional methods because it harnesses and reuses the heat that would have been wasted.
  • By using co-generation energy, carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced.
  • Co-generation system use natural gases, which means that it emits less than half of the greenhouse gases than that of the cleanest thermal power station.

• Disadvantages:
  • Steam and electricity need to work simultaneously to make the co-generaion process work, which becomes a problem in the summer when steam heating is not needed.
  • Steam powered air conditioning buildings are built for the summer time so that co-generation can be used, but this is more expensive to do.
  • It burns non-renewable resources and it still will emit carbon dioxide.
• Uses:
  • to produce heat
  • used in the wood processing industry
• Environmental Impact: The environment may be harmed in the process of getting the fuels. It also pollutes the environment.

Solar - Renewable

Definition:The energy received from the sun by the earth. It is a form of solar radiation, which makes the production of solar electricity possible. Solar energy is important to life on earth because people use it all the time to help food grow, influence weather, give us heat, and light out days. Solar energy has been used since ancient times as a way to create new technologies.

• Advantages:
  • Solar cells, used to capture solar energy, can be used almost anywhere.
  • Solar energy is a silent way to produce energy and is non-polluting.
  • They don’t require much maintenance and they can last a very long time.
• Disadvantages:
  • The price of solar cells is very expensive
  • There needs to be a large land area to put the solar cells in order to obtain average efficiency
  • Weather and air pollution can interrupt the efficiency of the solar cells because they can only generate electricity when it is the daytime.
• 2 uses of solar power:
  • Air conditioning and/or heating
  • Water heating
• Environmental Impact- Solar power impacts the environment pretty much just by disturbing the land of the animals that inhabit the land. These animals have to move to another place if their inhabiting areas being taken over by solar power industries. In result, this can affect their lives because of climate differences or possible food options.

Tidal - Renewable

Definition: power extracted from the ocean's tides through turbines

• Advantages:
  • Does not pollute (no emission of gases)
  • Will always be in effect, as long as the earth has tidal phases
  • Easy to predict effective places to places turbines
• Disadvantages:
  • Does not produce as much electricity as fossil fuels currently
  • Expensive to build over the course of ten years
  • Can only be built on coastlines, limiting plants
• Uses:
  • Provides mechanical power in factories from waterwheels
  • Produces electricity and energy with use of underwater turbines
• Environmental impacts: Tidal energy is very environmentally friendly. It does not release any harmful gases into the atmosphere as it does not burn any harmful materials. It also can help to deplete the need for nuclear energy, which will help cut the odds of radioactive material leaking. However, building underwater turbines and energy generators could possibly negatively affect ecosystems. The tides are not affected very much - at most by a mere fifteen centimeters. The positive effects far outweigh the negative.